Letters from the editors

The inspiration for this issue came from a simple question: “What’s it like to be a developer at a tech company?” We designed the issue around this and asked developers and managers to share their experiences. We spoke to developers about their day-to-day thoughts and work, whether building and maintaining staging environments, developing in containers, their hopes for the future of JavaScript, the remote experience, or the lessons they’ve learned about building accessible developer tools. We interviewed Isaac Schlueter, CEO of npm.js, who built a package manager that developers all around the world use every day, and Matt Klein, who contemplated how microservice architecture has impacted development best practices. To tie it together, commissioned the most beautiful artwork from Yukai Du.

We loved putting this issue together and can’t wait to share it with you. We hope you find it as joyful and fascinating we do!

Susan FowlerEditor in Chief

Hello Increment readers,

This is my first issue with Increment—lovely to meet you! It’s a pleasure and an honor to be working with Susan and a truly brilliant team and to be a part of a future-shaping organization like Stripe. I love being here for myriad reasons, not the least of which is that I see Increment as an opportunity to help tech become more accessible, inclusive, and welcoming.

At Increment, the democratization of software engineering is core to our mission. By compiling and sharing insights, best practices, and diverse perspectives from industry leaders, we hope to contribute to the creation of a knowledge base that benefits teams of all sizes and scales. On a personal note, I’m thrilled to be a part of that—because together we can work toward a more equitable future for tech.